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Sukitte Ii na yo Review

This is review number one hundred and thirty three. It’s part of the Fall 2012 lineup and it’s another Shoujo anime. There are three in this lineup and I’ve already seen the first one, Kamisama Hajimemashita. This is the second one and I’m saving the last one for a rainy day or something. The anime I’ll be reviewing is “Suikitte Ii na yo” or “Say I Love You” and it’s a simple story about two people in love. It’s thirteen episodes and there are cats in it!!! Let’s read on.

Story

The anime is about the quite girl named Mei Tachibana, who prefers to be alone because she believes friends only uses you, suddenly being the primary focus of the most popular guy in her school, Yamato Kurosawa. He thinks that Mei is interesting and he thinks he has fallen in love. After an incident with a stalker and a chance first kiss, it would seem that Mei might also be falling for the most popular guy in school. Can Mei trust someone and fall in love with him? Even if a lot of girls has their eyes on the guy she is falling in love with?

Taking the Pants Off

This is the second Shoujo anime in the lineup. I don’t review a lot of Shoujo anime so it feels nice to try my hand at it. Shoujo anime are romantic anime catered for girls and it usually talks about the youthful experience of two teenagers. It’s a story we can either relate to or wished we can experience. Either way, it’s a story that’ll make you feel emotional as you feel invested in the love of the two main characters. This anime sticks true to that approach and it truly delivers. There is enough romance in this anime to keep you screaming like a fan girl but there is also a complex plot and some really thought out character development. It’s a very nicely done Shoujo anime.

Episode 1

The interesting thing about this anime is that it doesn’t beat around the bush. Most Shoujo anime would focus on puppy love romance and even ending the anime with the two main characters just being in a stand still. In this anime, the characters become an item very easily and they have a lot of alone time together. Most anime builds the story up for the first kiss or the first hug. In this anime, the story is mostly about the challenges the couple encounter and how they overcome it. There is also a lot of room to work with. We have a guy who is friendly with everyone and obviously have some flirt encounter with a girl in the past. This is often a shock to the girl who is as pure and innocent as can be. Then we have a girl who has a massive inferiority complex. She thinks that the guy can do better and that she doesn’t deserve to be with him. There is a lot of conflict to build up with the two characters together so it’s very interesting where the anime will lead up.

The story of the anime is very simple. It’s about the relationship of two people and the anime nicely displayed their sweet moments together where they’re hugging and kissing and being all cute, their sour moments together where misunderstandings arise between them and their bitter moments where they doubt the person they love. It all combines into a story that most people, who has fallen in love, can relate with. The anime showcases a very typical romantic experience full of up and downs between the two people in love. The Shoujo genre has a way of dragging its story but there is enough development in the span of twelve episodes to keep you intrigued. Like most romantic experiences too, it’s also very interesting just how far the couple will go. It starts out like a puppy dog romance but it slowly grows and just how far it goes is something very interesting to see.

The two main characters are pretty interesting. Mei is this girl who is subtle and rarely speaks her feeling. She thinks a lot though and we get to see her bottle up her frustrations and displease just to make Yamato happy. She has a very nice transformation in the anime. It’s the sort of character development you rarely see in the genre. She starts out as a loner but she slowly becomes a girl that is approachable and even aggressive. With the help of their blossoming romance, Mei comes out of her shell and even initiates some romantic moments you would never expect she’ll do. Yamato is pretty amazing. He is the absolute best boyfriend material ever. Way to push the fantast fulfillment with a guy that only loves one girl despite being surrounded a lot of attractive girls. He also falls for the wallflower which would make any girl scream as you see him chase after Mei or defend her or display his affection for her. I call BS on that kind of character but it’s pretty interesting to see his overly nice personality bite him in the ass. Throughout the anime, a lot of characters keep putting Mei down because they think he deserves better and it causes a lot of tension between them.

The side characters are pretty nice too. The anime was also able to give them some deserved screen time. I was also glad that no time was wasted on the side characters. A lot of Shoujo anime deviates from their original couple so they can accommodate the friend’s romantic experience. In this anime, they are just side characters but they were able to transform as well. That once b*tchy girl would soon turn into a nice and caring friend. There were some nice characters that help push the development of the two main characters and they also add some conflict to the plot. The anime was missing that ultra-antagonist though. I noticed that almost everyone is just a very misunderstood person and it sucks because I wanted someone to steal away Yamato or something.

The one thing that prevented the rise of an ultra-antagonist was this light hearted theme about friendship. There is this recurring idea among the characters that “friends” is just a five letter word. Most people you consider friend aren’t actually sincere and they’re just using you. They’ll most likely abandon you when you need them most and even talk bad things behind your back. A lot of flashbacks were dedicated to this idea that supports a character’s antagonistic personality. The theme of friendship prevails though because in the end, there are people that actually care for you and would be there for you in your time of need.

This was a very nice Shoujo anime. It was able to display powerful emotions that pull you in. The love story showcased in the anime is something very nice to watch and all the elements were nicely incorporated. There were some issues with the pacing, like any good Shoujo, but seeing the characters hug and display their love for each other is enough to cover up any flaw the anime possess. This is a very satisfying romantic anime and I would love to see more of it.

Sight and Sound

The character design is typical Shoujo. The guy is the tall, dark and handsome type. He has a slim build that appeals to its target audience (dem pre-teens). He has a dashing look and a gentle aura to him but also looks like someone that would aggressively pin you down. His hair style is also noticeable. It’s sort of messy and long on the back. When he’s next to Mei, you can clearly see how cute they are together. Mei is the typical Shoujo main. She blushes a lot and she has big eyes that express her emotions. I love how she averts her eyes or glance away when she is face to face with Yamato. She also has a slim build and her hairstyle is also very noticeable. It’s short but a bit long on the back. She has very strong facial expressions which I really admire.

The rest of the cast is pretty much designed the same. There’s a very small cast anyway so there’s no need to overcomplicate. Some characters nicely stand out though like Yamato’s childhood friend with the faux hawk.

These two characters have a lot of hugging and kissing scenes. These scenes do not disappoint. They’re meant to make you fan girl scream and feel excited. The animation has a nice way of establishing the mood and making sure each romantic scene pulls a reaction from the viewers. The hugging scenes are very gentle and sincere. The way the characters blush and the way Mei’s head fall on Yamato’s shoulder was pretty freaking sweet to watch. There are also a lot of alone time between the characters. There are scenes that go into a singular side view like this:

And it’s a nice way to display the character’s body language when they’re facing each other. The moment they touch during this kind of camera angle is also a nice way to bolster up the romantic scene. It’s very effective and as the moments keep getting intense, this smart side view scene also becomes more powerful.

The kissing scenes are also nice. It’s the romantic type of kiss where no one is getting aggressive. Instead, they both just stand still and the mood just go all cute and sh*t. The kissing scenes are pretty fast though and they don’t sink in as great as I hope they’d be. I’m more a hugging fan because those scenes are longer. Nothing beats a kiss though (maybe boob grabbing, but let’s stay on focus here).

The anime’s OP is “Friendship ~ for Sukitte Ii na yo.” by Ritsuko Okazaki. My hair stood up when I heard the OP because this was done by the same person that did the Fruits Basket OP. She’s been dead for eight years though. I’m surprised they used one of her songs. I guess they really wanted to push Shoujo strongly into the animesphere if they’re opting to use nostalgia for the OP instead of some new popular singers. Ritsuko’s voice is gentle and charming. It nicely fits the anime because of the Shoujo element. It has a girly vibe that is very soothing as well. The OP sequence features the two main character in some laid back setting. It ends with the two of them side by side and smiling at each other.

The anime’s ED is “slow dance” by Suneohair. Suneohair is also a very old performer and I distinctly remember him doing some songs for the anime “Honey and Clover”. This also brings back some nostalgia especially since Honey and Clover is very near and dear to me. The ED song has a nice beat to it and the singer’s voice really adds some mellowness to the track. The Ed sequence features some pictures and some different blue colors. There are also some items like clocks, books, and a desk chair. I don’t want to look into it much. You do it.

Overall Score

7/10 “A strong Shoujo anime that’ll make you fall in love.”

This is how you do a Shoujo anime. It punches strong and it’s able to pull emotions from deep inside you. If you’re a sucker for some old school Shoujo anime like me then you’ll love this anime. All of its components are done right and the experience is very memorable. I highly recommend it.

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14 thoughts on “Sukitte Ii na yo Review”

just finished watching this. a little too soft-core (lighthearted) for my taste, but it definitely fits its gender. The character development was great too (if not too idealistic). Liked how how objective this review felt. Have a nice day.

I disagree with your rating. This definitely NOT how you should do a romance anime. I’ve pretty much watched every shoujo anime under the sun and this is one of the worst I have ever seen. Yamato pretends to be devoted to Mei and sensitive towards her feelings and he manages to fool the audience into believing this until the Megu-tan eps. During those eps he finds no guilt in constantly going to Megu-tan’s house for dinner and not telling Mei about it. When he is confronted by Aiko about it he even tries to make excuses instead of admitting his mistake right away. Mei is a bloody pushover. Despite being uncomfortable with how Yamato is acting she allows him to continue to do whatever he pleases while she cries by herself. All Yamato had to do to earn her trust and forgiveness back was say a simple sorry. It’s the same throughout the entire anime. Mei just lets Yamato do whatever until he says sorry then it’s alright. She doesn’t stand up for herself. Weak female protagonist and a stupid male protagonist. I mean who would have sex with someone just for pity? That’s right, our genius male protagonist, Yamato.

I thought I was the only one who thought that about this Kimi ni Todoke wannabe on crack. For me, SILY is one of those cheesy, guilty-pleasure shoujo anime that’s fun to watch but you can’t look really deep into. What bothers me is how, like you said, Yamato basically CHEATS EMOTIONALLY on Mei and at the very end of it, she rewards him with a KISS to try and bring him back to her. Wow…seriously?

This is a rather late comment, but it was only just recently that I got to watch the anime, ( I’ve been reading the manga for years, from Day One actually. ) And to Jester and Just my two cents, I totally agree with your comments. Yamato is a potential cheater. Does he actually believe that having dinner everynight with Megu-chan will be viewed as plainly innocent and altruistic by others, and rationalizes it as giving comfort to Megu-chan ? . Give it a few more nights and he and Megu will start banging each other, just as he had sex with another girl, out of pity ? To give her self – confidence that she’s an attractive girl ? No, Yamato is a freaking man – whore and just acts all benevolent and nice. He knows it’s wrong, and that’s why he keeps his nightly dinner dates from Mei.

LOL. In my long time watching Shoujo as well, I know that any romance story can elicit a reaction, whether good or bad, from readers/viewers is good. It made people care, and it got people invested. Sukitte Ii Na yo seems to be doing a good job at proving just how good of a romance it is. 🙂

I don’t actually agree with your score.. I liked the initial episodes but later there was no progress in the whole season.. All they had was misunderstandings one after another and for no reason.. I actually liked kai’s character more than yamato. Plus they were simply bringing new characters to the anime just to make 13 episode. Otherwise if you actually see there is nothing story.. I would have liked the anime more if it had started out as them being friends and then maturing into lovers.. And the funniest part is they did not even say I love you.. Yamato’s character in the beginning was good but later seemed more twisted.. He was bothered about others more than his girl. And Mei, initially was projected as a strong willed and independent girl but then later she seemed more meek, and dependent one.. I get the feeling the author forgot the personalities of both the characters.. And I’m not saying this cuz it brought out feeling in me, but cuz I really felt disappointed for wasting my time on this anime.. It is just another usual romantic story.. 7/10 makes it totally over-rated.. Out of pity (just like Yamato) would give a 5..

It’s an old review, so I don’t remember much. All I remember is that it is still an introductory phase of the manga, wherein the anime’s goal is to make you read it, but it did a lot more than other Shoujo anime. Kimi ni Todoke had 2 seasons before the couple kissed, but this anime gave it away in the first or second episode or something. I think the manga is actually mature, wherein the characters actually progressed to having sex in their relationship, and not a lot of Shoujo goes that far. It’s a different Shoujo anime that honors the mature and grown up aspects in a still high school love story.
I gave it a seven because it has a slither of originality, and the cinematography feels very personal. Again, I don’t remember the story but I know a lot of people hate this anime. If a Shoujo anime can conjure up some emotions in you, then I say the anime did a great job giving the viewers a notable anime experience.

“A strong Shoujo anime that’ll make you fall in love.” I’ll admit that I went too far over exaggerating the show, but you can’t fault a young reviewer while he was still learning his writing style.
If it’s overrated to you, then it’s really no problem. My review isn’t an absolute fact. It’s just my opinion based on my experience of the show, and we all experience anime differently.

I really liked your review hence had my expectations high.. Maybe the manga was more mature but the anime was just another simple story.. Only the first 2 episodes that characters were more forward, but after that the anime was slow paced.. They did the same mistake, feeling jealous, falling for the same traps, holding hands and walking. Even though it was introductory they could have done better. They did not show the couples maturing slowly.. Suddenly they were a couple and suddenly the anime ended.. Only some parts in between were meaningful.. I prefer “Kamisama..” cuz they showed them falling in love and maturing.. Sometimes adult scenes are not the only thing that matters.. But how did it reach that.. he he.. Her whole point of liking him cuz he spoke to her and got her friends does not make sense.. Her love is based on reason which should not be so.. That is my opinion.

they became a couple early on because the entire story is about maintaining their relationship as they mature together. They reach the point of becoming a sexual couple, and the emotional growth is featured prominently. It’s not like other anime where the main goal is to have the two characters fall in love. In this anime, they fell in love and the story is now about their life as a couple.

“Her love is based on reason which should not be so..”
Yes, that is an opinion because falling in love is a really personal experience. The anime follows the good and bad of the relationship it also features the mistakes in it as the girl matures. It features how young people fall in love early and realize how much they don’t know about love. If you can put your opinion aside, I’m sure you’d feel a lot to the girl currently madly in love with a guy.

I don’t think I can put myself in her shoes.. If a guy had stolen my first kiss I would have slapped him hard rather than stare at him awestruck, no matter what the reason.. The whole scene was dumb.. He cud have just gone to the guy and asked him not to follow her.. That would have been more reasonable.. I the anime they never reach the level of the sexual couple.. All the do is kiss and hold hands.. Which I don’t feel is any different from other anime..

the sexual relationship happens in the manga. The anime’s only job is to urge you to read it Again, maybe this romance story isn’t for you but a lot of people adores being swept off their feet by their crushes and that idea is entertained here. It maybe dumb, but there’s a big audience that loves that so it’s only fair to understand their side as well and just my own.